Police said Wednesday that the man who killed three white men in a Fresno, California shooting spree was a “racist filled with hate” and has shown no remorse for the murders.
“This is a hate crime based on race and gender,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer told reporters at a news conference.
Thirty-nine-year-old Kori Ali Muhammad, who is black, wanted to kill as many white people as possible after a warrant for his arrest was released in the murder of a 25-year-old Motel 6 security guard Carl Williams last week.
Muhammad told investigators he killed Williams because he felt “disrespected” by him during an altercation at the motel. He said he fled the scene and hid out on a nearby 7/11 rooftop while police conducted an investigation.
Chief Dyer said when the suspect realized he was wanted in the murder of Williams, he “didn’t want to go down as someone who just shot a security guard” but wanted to shoot as many white people as possible before his arrest.
Muhammad told police he did not like white men and said they were responsible for “keeping black people down.”
On Tuesday, Dyer shot and killed thirty-four-year-old PG&E worker Zachary David Randalls, Mark James Gassett, 37, who was walking in the neighborhood, and 58-year-old David Martin Jackson outside a Catholic charity office.
Police said the firearm used in the crime was allegedly stolen by a hispanic man who spoke with Muhammad after the shooting spree and is urged to turn himself in.
Chief Dyer told reporters that it's "very rare" for a homicide suspect to cooperate with investigators in recounting the killings and he believes Muhammad was "proud" of what he did.
Dyer said Muhammad told police that he gave himself up because he respects Fresno officers, didn't want them to shoot him and is not a "coward."
Muhammad yelled "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," during his arrest and described himself as Muslim but says he practiced voodoo rituals and prays to seven different gods.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
